The electric automaker wants to hire up to 30 full-time employees from the hacking community, as evidenced from its display at the recent annual Def Con conference in Las Vegas. More than 10,000 coders and network-security pros (the nice people who point out digital flaws without destroying the whole world) gathered there to brush up on their skills, including demonstrating control over hotel elevators. If you don’t speak l33t, you don’t attend Def Con.

Tesla wants more programmers to find security holes in its cars, all of which come with internet connections, perform over-the-air software updates, and have an infotainment screen the size of a Times Square billboard that is used to control everything from navigation to the door locks. Although the Def Con event wasn’t a Tesla “hackathon” like what happened in China—there, hackers took control of the car’s sunroof, lights, and horn—it did allow Tesla to recruit experts for what may become the biggest electronics-security team in the auto business. Interns are being sought, too, and anyone who finds a flaw gets mentioned on the Tesla website (there are 20 such mentions at present) and can win “challenge coins” for free factory tours in Fremont, California.

Tesla’s own “hacker princess,” former Apple and Microsoft employee Kristin Paget, told the Wall Street Journalthat the firm had patched at least one security hole in the Model S reported by an outside hacker. Tesla wouldn’t confirm whether it had actually hired anyone from Def Con.

“Our security team is focused on advancing technology to secure connected cars, setting new standards for security, and creating new capabilities for connected cars that don’t currently exist in the automotive industry,” Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean told us. We couldn’t squeeze any more juice than that, but given Tesla’s innovation in this space, we plan on being surprised. What’s next, will Elon Musk show up at our next LAN party?